Stock futures fall ahead of confidence data

VMware, Seagate down in premarket

KateGibson

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock-index futures fell on Tuesday before data expected to show a sharp drop in consumer confidence. Ford Motor Co. Inc. shares fell after the auto maker’s outlook disappointed.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
US:DJH3
fell 21 points, or 0.2%, to 13,811, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index
US:SPH3
eased 3.7 points, or 0.3%, to 1,493.40.

“With U.S. consumer-confidence data for January expected shortly after the opening bell, along with earnings news from names including Ford and Amazon, traders’ resolve to keep building out this rally certainly has the potential to be tested yet again,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets, in a note on Tuesday. The Tell: Five critical things needed to keep the markets flying

The S&P/Case Shiller home-price index released 30 minutes before Tuesday’s opening bell had prices rising 5.5% in November from the year-earlier period.

At 10 a.m. Eastern, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its barometer of consumer confidence, which is expected at 64.3 for January against 65.1 in December, hitting a five-month low, according to economists. Higher payroll taxes and fiscal uncertainties are expected to contribute to the drop.

Also Tuesday, the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting is due to get under way, with the central bank expected to keep policy extremely loose in hopes businesses and investors will take more risks and the economy will pick up speed. A statement is expected at 2:15 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday. Read: Bernanke still chasing the elusive recovery

Movers

Ford Motor Co.
F, -0.99%
shares fell 1.5% in premarket trade after it reported a better-than-anticipated fourth-quarter profit but forecast expanded losses this year in Europe.

Investors will be watching Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN, -1.54%
after Wall Street’s closing bell on Tuesday. The online-retailing major is expected to report fourth-quarter profit of 28 cents a share on revenue of $22.26 billion, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet. Read: Amazon may regain profitability.

U.S. stocks finished mostly lower on Monday. After closing above 1,500 for the first time since December 2007 last week, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index
SPX, -1.14%
fell 2.78 points, or 0.2%, Monday to finish at 1,500.18. That snapped its longest winning streak in more than eight years. Read: S&P 500 snaps 8-session winning streak

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.